| Overview : IC - International/National Consultant – Marine Spatial Planning Specialist to support the JMA Demonstration Project Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process. Project Background Demonstrating Innovative Ocean Governance Mechanisms and Delivering Best Practices and Lessons for Extended Continental Shelf Management within the Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystems (UNDP-Joint Management Area Demonstration Project). Project Description The Mascarene plateau is made up of the Seychelles Plateau, the Ritchie Bank, the Saya de Malha Bank, the Nazareth Bank and the St Brandon shoals to the south up to Mauritius. Importantly, the plateau has significant importance for an appropriate management and a monitoring system in place as it has potential economic, environmental and social benefits that can be derived In September 2007, UNDP began implementation of the GEF-funded Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project. The objective of this Project was to undertake an environmental baseline assessment of the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems, to fill information gaps needed to improve management decision-making and to ascertain the role of external forcing functions. The Project was designed to address the Agulhas and the Somali Current LMEs under one initial assessment process as well as the assessment of the Mascarene Plateau. In a new context, this innovative GEF-funded project, the UNDP Joint Management Area Demonstration Project has an overall objective in identifying and demonstrating new management approaches and techniques for the Mascarene Plateau. The project will be worth 2.2 M USD and will be implemented over four years (2018 to 2021). This JMA Demonstration project will assist Seychelles and Mauritius in the development and demonstration of new management approaches for such extended continental shelf areas which can provide lessons and management techniques which can be replicated both within the western Indian Ocean as well as other similar maritime zones globally. The UNDP JMA Demonstration Project aims at achieving its objectives through the delivery of four components. - Building Technical and Management Capacity in support of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and effective management of the Joint Management Area
- Development of a data and information system along with a Programme of data capture and gap-filling as a foundation for an adaptive management strategy.
- Elaboration and implementation of a Marine Spatial Planning approach with the objective of improving and implementing effective decision-making for activities within the Joint Management Area.
- Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptive Feedback and Sustainability using UNDP and GEF tracking tool for both annual progress and terminal evaluation.
Scope of Work Component one (1) of the JMA Demonstration Project emphasized the strengthening of technical and management capacities to support a Marine Spatial Planning process which will consequently ensure the efficient management of the Joint Management Area. In doing so there are several key objectives that need to be met. The main objective of this consultancy is to provide a Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)strategy and to identify skills gaps, as well as tools and capacity building activities to sustain the MSP process. This strategy will serve several key objectives, namely: - It assesses and prioritises the skills required for an effective implementation of an MSP Plan;
- It enables capacity building competencies;
- It facilitates the exchange of competences in ocean governance;
- t outlines important tools for employment of the MSP process.
Duties and Responsibilities To achieve these objectives, the following activities are proposed: - Review all available information and existing data for the JMA, identify initial information gaps, and relevant global “lessons learned”;
- Conduct a skills gap assessment to support an MSP implementation process in the JMA (Seychelles and Mauritius);
- Elaborate the MSP objectives for the JMA;
- Evaluate and define the scale and scope of the MSP process for the JMA;
- Conduct MSP stakeholder mapping exercise to identify groups/individuals and their preferences;
- Identify potential holders/sources of data pertaining to the JMA;
- Identify and commence the process of preparing a list of potential data holders (e.g. individual researchers, institutes/ universities, non-governmental and governmental organisations);
- Prepare a template for Data Sharing Agreements for use by the JMA, if identified as needed;
- Identify appropriate spatial and non-spatial tools and software needed for the MSP process (e.g. satellite imagery, metadatabases);
- Conduct a preliminary analysis of available data and represent uses;
- Prepare a concise JMA MSP Road Map document consolidating the above information which will also include an MSP Training Plan;
- Prepare the first draft zoning framework;
- Produce a Final Report, consolidating the above information, together with recommendations on next steps, and in line with UNDP guidelines.
Deadline for Submission: 23 October 2018 on the UNDP jobs on https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm | 
